Rosie's adventures in knitting (and life)!

January 2009

January 31, 2009

I started this goal back in May (yikes!) and it turned out to be a big fail, so I'm starting over. This will be easier this time around, because I have also started a 365 Project on Flickr that I'm also pairing with my One Sentence Journal goal. I'm hoping I will probably do more than one self portrait per month, and then I can pick the best one for this collection. I am REALLY HAPPY with this one I did a couple of days ago. It's been hard for me to remember that I really DO like to make creations in Photoshop when all I've been using the program for is work stuff.

January 29, 2009

Last weekend I was in a mood where I didn't really feel like knitting (I know, right?) or doing anything else. I was bored. I know it's a bad sign when I get bored. It rarely happens, and it usually means that I'm not happy or stressed out about something. I hate it when I get like that. Last fall I bought a needle felting kit from the Thistledown Alpacas booth at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. It sat on my shelf since then, but I finally pulled it out and decided that I was going to make these little ducks. It was just the thing I needed to pull me out of my boredom.

Needle felting is really easy! It was really cool to make these little ducks. I felt like a sculpture! I totally see the potential of this craft to allow you to really be an artist and easily make your own unique creations. The only thing I had a problem with was accidentally poking myself with the sharp felting needles. I'm not sure if I'll take up needle felting in a serious way any time soon, but it was a fun little project.

January 26, 2009

Over the weekend I finished up my new pair of mittens! You can see the grays are mismatched, but not too bad. It was a good stash buster. I couldn't bear to put my old mittens with the hole in the garbage can, so I put them away in my room. I'm sure I'll get rid of them when it comes time to move, but I wasn't ready yet, I guess.

I took my new mittens for a test drive during my walk today, and they were great. It's nice to have new, snug mittens. Hopefully these will last me another couple of winters.

January 23, 2009

It's almost February, so it's time for the Be My Valentine swap once again! I have been shopping for my swap partner, and her package is almost complete. This swap is run by a group on Ravelry, and it was so much fun last year. There are always a few contests that go along with the swap and I won the first one, which was a photo contest using photos of your FO's that you completed with yarn from last year's swap package. As a prize I won this gorgeous skein of yarn from Yarn Chef! The yarn is called Creme Brulee and I choose the colorway, Atlantis. It's lace weight merino/silk and it's the prettiest blue! It also came with a recipe for Minestrone soup and a tiny blue stitch marker! Thanks, Yarn Chef!

January 22, 2009

I knit my beloved Charlie Card mittens about three years ago after I moved to Boston and became a serious pedestrian. I took the bus and subway to work everyday and without a car, that was my primary means of transportation. When the MBTA switched over to magnetic card readers, it was no longer necessary to get your card out each time and feed it into the turnstile. You just needed to hold the card close to a target and the little doors would swing open for you. I saw that the Subway Knitter came up with a pair of mittens with a small pocket just big enough for your card. Well, as you can see, they are finally starting to wear out. There is a huge hole in the right thumb, and the right fingertip area is becoming very weak. Since there is still a whole lot more of winter left, I need to knit another pair.

I cast on for another pair of mittens last week and I'm already on the second one! I'm using the same knitting pattern I used for my old mittens minus the Charlie Card pocket since I don't need it anymore ( *sigh* SOMETIMES I MISS BOSTON). This is the best mitten pattern ever! My mom made me a copy of the old "Mittens and Gloves to Knit and Crochet for the Entire Family" a couple Christmases ago, and I love it if only for this pattern. There's only one problem with this project. What's missing from the photo above? A ball of yarn! Yes! So, I only had one ball of this yarn in my stash and the amount of mittens above is what it yielded me. Instead of buying more yarn, I'm just going to use another type of charcoal colored yarn of the same weight from my stash. I just need these mittens now, and I don't care if they aren't perfect. They will match my winter coat and be perfectly comfortable. After they wear out, maybe I'll make the next pair all out of the same yarn!

January 20, 2009

As I mentioned before in my last podcast, I scored a small knitting gig knitting swatches for the J. Knits yarn company. They sent me three skeins of Silky, and I spent the last week or so knitting swatches. I love how they look all lined up and blocked!

I knit most of them in stockinette like I was supposed to, but I did knit a few of them in different stitch patterns. I really enjoyed working with this yarn, because it was so soft, and love the subtle variegation in the solid colors. It kind of has the same effect I see in a lot of kettle dyed yarns.

I'm glad I completed this task so quickly. Tomorrow I will drop the swatches in the mail! I am receiving yarn credit for these swatches. I'm interested to see what these yarns are like when completing an actual project.

January 15, 2009

The Road scarf is finished and blocked and all nice and flat and pretty. I really like this scarf, but it is promised to Justin's sister, Karen. I hope she has a chance to wear this down in Texas!

I am contemplating making another one in a lighter color for me. I think the stitch pattern blocks would looks SO GREAT and stand out way better in a lighter color. And, I would also pay attention to which side is right and which side is wrong... I did four whole pattern repeats and I like the length a lot. It's long enough to wrap around my neck twice and still stick the ends into my coat. This would be a really good pattern for beginners who want to knit something a little more than a plain scarf.

January 10, 2009

I had a lot to catch up on in this episode. I found some AWESOME songs and talked a lot about my current knitting projects. I also went on a pretty epic rant about lettuce towards the end. It's worth downloading this episode just for that!

January 09, 2009

The Road is fucking tough AH! I always get that Tenacious D song stuck in my head as I'm knitting this scarf. This is The Road scarf and it is for Justin's sister, Karen. She commissioned a scarf from me when I saw her around Thanksgiving time. It feels like I haven't knit a scarf in forever! This pattern is knitting up so fast, and it is pretty mindless despite all of the stitch pattern changes. I did run into a problem, though. After the first 4 pattern blocks, I reversed my right and wrong sides. I just wasn't paying attention! I think I'm going to have enough yarn to do 16 pattern blocks in all (4 pattern repeats). So, my plan now is to alternate right sides every 4 blocks. I think it will still look ok, especially after it's wrapped around someone's neck. I'm very annoyed that I made such a juvenile knitting mistake. Don't get cocky!